Room rates of under $15 preferred. Internet connection a must. Near Pho Hue = awesome!

Any help would be appreciated (including "avoid this hotel" posts). Thanks! :)

We stayed in Elegant 5 on Nam Ngu when we first arrived. It is more expensive than you are talking about - more like $25 I think - but close enough that my husband walked to his office on Hai Ba Trung each day. You might be able to wangle a deal. We were really happy with it. Would recommend asking for one of the rooms at the back as they are a little quieter. Laundry is pretty cheap. Most have a mini kitchen and are quite large for the area. Location-wise, it forms a fairly equally-sided triangle with Hanoi Towers and Pacific Place (closer to Pacific Place tho). Lovely, simple rooms with special touches like a vase of fresh flowers. A very well-known VN restuarant very close as well as a popular but slightly expensive expat-focused one (VN food) and a super little French bakery. We also walked to KOTO from here.

We also stayed for a few nights at The Ritz hotel. Again - about $25 a night but I know some people have gotten in for closer to $20. Perhaps they'd do a deal for a longer period of time (?) Right on Hoan Kiem lake, between Fanny's Icecream and Intimex, set back a little from the road. Includes brekky each day. Again, I'd ask for a room at the back (quieter) and as high as possible (stairwell can be a bit noisy if guests return late at night). Means lots of stairs (5 floors I think), but we were semi-grateful for the exercise. TINY rooms compared to Elegant 5 but more centrally located. Both places super clean and they didn't try to pull any swifties. Mr River at The Ritz is exceptional in customer service. Lots of holiday-ers here, whereas Elegant 5 tends to have more (working) medium-termers.

Elegant 5 has dialup that you pay an extra $1 per day for (I think?) and I seem to remember The Ritz had something to plug into also, but you'd need to check with them. We chose instead to take our laptops to Highlands Coffee at both Hanoi Towers and Pacific Place to check email, and at The Ritz they provide free internet access computers in the cosy lobby. That's where my experience runs out I'm afraid. Hope this is useful!

PS - We find www.tripadvisor.com extremely helpful for reviews of such places.